CNET Editors' review
In the modern blog-heavy, instant-news world, a good RSS reader is welcome on almost every desktop. ENewsBar is aimed at computer users who want the latest news without having to take the trouble to configure a full-blown reader. Once installed, the software creates a ticker at the top of the computer screen on which news headlines scroll past, a little like a CNN TV news screen. When a user hovers the mouse over the ticker, the headlines freeze, and actually clicking a headline pops up a Web browser window with the full article text. The application comes with more than a hundred preset news channels, but users can add just a single new custom feed, making it impractical for people who are heavy blog readers. It also uses a fairly large chunk of system memory to operate. In all, ENewsBar makes a good choice for computer users simply looking to have the latest news at their fingertips, but those who are looking to customize their info-gathering experience more deeply should probably look elsewhere.
Publisher's Description
From ENewsBar:
Scrolling news ticker for your desktop. View news via your choice of category or keyword. Incorporates millions of continuously updated news articles from thousands of sources. Easily customize the speed and color of the ticker or have multiple tickers displayed, each with different content, speeds, and colors. Import any RSS or Atom feed: simply enter the URL to view. Version 3.05 features Blog with ENewsBlog: easily add any headline to your blog; Article Summaries: view summaries and related information; Games: play free games on EnewsBar; more categories, new sources: expanding news coverage.
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All versions:
3.6 starsout of 12 votes
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Current version:
3.6 starsout of 12 votes
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My rating:
Write review
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"not working"
Version: ENewsBar 3.05
Pros
not working
Cons
not working
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"TTNews is much better"
Version: ENewsBar 3.05
Cons
TTNews is much better:
ttnews.googlepages.com/ttnews_en.rar
ttnews is smaller, easier. What is more, ttnews can act as a gmail notifier/writer. It also suport various scrolling mode (up/down/right/left, multi-line), it is free.
So use ttnews instead of enewsbar
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"decent"
Version: ENewsBar 3.05
Pros
i like it
Cons
needs some improvements.
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"A neat little program that is free"
Version: ENewsBar 3.05
Pros
I was impressed with all the ways you can customize this program. There are many topics for the stories as well.
It passed the spyware test using adware, hijack this etc.. the advertising is not distracting either.
Cons
I dont know if this is a con but I wanted to put this on my web site and I couldnt.
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"Crashes Explorer and only allows one custom feed"
Version: ENewsBar 3.05
Pros
It's pretty simple and easy. It doesn't take a whole lot of memory. It can't hurt to try it and see if it fits your needs.
Cons
When it launches, it crashes Internet Explorer. You can re-start explorer, but the crash alert button stays on the screen and won't go away. Also, it will only let you configure one custom feed. To top it off, it won't let you use a feed if the URL address is too long. Also, you can't change the default browser to open Mozilla instead of Explorer.
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"Looks good, but if you can't type in the address of the RSS feed..."
Version: ENewsBar 3.05
Pros
The ticker itself looks clean and professional.
Cons
Number one complaint: The text field for manual RSS feeds does not allow enough characters! Number two: Cannot stream news from more than one custom RSS feed at a time without opening more copies of the program. Additional complaints: More font options would be useful on the ticker, to make it more readable. More background color options would also be nice (there's a nice, standard dialog that they could be calling on Windows to give them a color). It would be nice if docking were as simple as clicking and dragging. And just to be petty, it would even be a perk if it opened the default browser for its help page instead of Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
This is on version 3.05? At this rate of feature inclusion, I'll check back around version 7 or so.
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"Interesting and entertaining"
Version: ENewsBar 3.05
Pros
Lots of news in a very small space
Cons
It is so interesting that it takes time away from doing other stuff...
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"Cool Little Program!"
Version: ENewsBar 3.05
Pros
Very handy! As far as I can tell (after running numerous anti-spyware scans), it does not contain spyware, adware or malware, nor does it report back to the mother ship or generate pop-ups. Can be positioned at top or bottom of screen or as a free-floating desktop object. Takes up very little screen space and does not obstruct view of web content or currently running application(s). Can instantly be hidden or shown with one click. No noticable impact on system resources. Can be uninstalled cleanly through Windows add/remove programs utility. Content can be somewhat customized by selecting from a wide variety of catagories which are accessed by left-clicking the triangle icon on either end of the bar (or manually typing keywords in it's search box). Clicking on any scrolling headline instantly opens browser to full article. Compatible with IE6 and Firefox. I like it!
Cons
Every 4th headline is an advertising link however the ad links are shown in a different color so it's very easy to distinguish news headlines from ads. Of course it would be even better without any advertising but then the developer would have to charge $$$ for it.
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"This is one of the best products I have ever used."
Version: ENewsBar 3.05
Pros
Its free and it gets me the news that I want.
Cons
Doesn't have any!
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"I like it!"
Version: ENewsBar 3.05
Pros
A nifty little program that makes my day much more interesting...I also like the free games they offer with it. Great invention.
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